For many months now, my biggest pygmy wether ("Goat Boy") has had sunken hips. He still has the fat belly, but around his back hips he looks undernourished, even though the other goats do not (and of course are eating the same things).
My vet is little help, because while he is well-meaning, he doesn't have much experience with goats (he has some), and he has NO experience with pet goats that aren't simply considered merchandise. Sadly, my favorite goat died under his treatment (to his credit, he did all he could) to urinary calculi, even after about $1,500 of treatment.
That is one reason why we don't feed much grain at all to our goats anymore: we were told too much grain is a common cause. Worse still, Goat Boy was wethered early, and so he is high risk for urinary calculi.
Anyway, both my vet and I thought worms were the likely culprit, so I tried worming him with fenbendozol. That didn't work, so the vet recommended an intensive double-dosage for a couple of days, and that didn't work (I used Probios after each worming, as usual).
Since many worms are immune to fenbendozol in my area, I tried Ivermectic paste instead (which i heard was far more powerful, but also far more dangerous if overdone). That didn't work, and I first tried the Ivermectic about 3 months ago. I have tried monthly ever since.
Any other ideas on why my goat would have sunken hips? He is admittedly the largest one, so perhaps he simply needs more calories than the others, but they all have free choice hay and mineral all year long, fresh greens daily for at least an hour or two from spring to summer, and about a cup of grain every other day (all the boys are wethers, and I have one lone, unbred doe). The other goats seem healthy: he is the only exception, and my family is terribly worried about him. : (
My vet is little help, because while he is well-meaning, he doesn't have much experience with goats (he has some), and he has NO experience with pet goats that aren't simply considered merchandise. Sadly, my favorite goat died under his treatment (to his credit, he did all he could) to urinary calculi, even after about $1,500 of treatment.
That is one reason why we don't feed much grain at all to our goats anymore: we were told too much grain is a common cause. Worse still, Goat Boy was wethered early, and so he is high risk for urinary calculi.
Anyway, both my vet and I thought worms were the likely culprit, so I tried worming him with fenbendozol. That didn't work, so the vet recommended an intensive double-dosage for a couple of days, and that didn't work (I used Probios after each worming, as usual).
Since many worms are immune to fenbendozol in my area, I tried Ivermectic paste instead (which i heard was far more powerful, but also far more dangerous if overdone). That didn't work, and I first tried the Ivermectic about 3 months ago. I have tried monthly ever since.
Any other ideas on why my goat would have sunken hips? He is admittedly the largest one, so perhaps he simply needs more calories than the others, but they all have free choice hay and mineral all year long, fresh greens daily for at least an hour or two from spring to summer, and about a cup of grain every other day (all the boys are wethers, and I have one lone, unbred doe). The other goats seem healthy: he is the only exception, and my family is terribly worried about him. : (